Non-refillable-bottle stopper.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIOE.,

GEORGE B. OKEY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF F OUR-NINTI-IS TOJOHN O. SHARP AND FOU R-NI N THS lO LEANDER B. ZARING, OF

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

NON-REFILLABLE-BOTTLE STOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June l1, 1907.

Application filed March 22,1907. Serial No. 363.908.

To n/ZZ 'whom ift may (2o/werft:

Be it known that I, Gnonen B. Oxnr, a citizen of theA United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of' Marion and State ol"Indiana, have invented' certain new and useful Improvements inNon-Re'fillable-Bottle Stoppers, and I do hereby declare the following'to be a l'ull, clear, and exact description oi' the invention, such aswill enable ro others skilled in the art to which it appertains to makeand vuse the same.

I have produced a stopper vfor bottles adapted to prevent refilling andin the claim appended hereto I will point out the novel constructionwhereby, when the stopper is secured, the bottle can neither be refillednor access had to its valved member and no special construction ofbottle is required vfor the stopper.

zo In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 shows the neck portion of abottle having my improved stopper to prevent refilling shown in section.Fig. 2 a view 1n perspective o'l" the stopper complete as an article ollmanufacture. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the same taken throughthe exit openings. Fig. 4 is the valve seating member o'f the stopper'.Fig. 5 is the float-valve. Fig'. 6 shows in section so much of thebottle laid on its side 3o with the valve open in illustration of anattempt to refill it. Fig. 7 is an identical view showing the valve inthe position having been floated and closed by the inflow to preventre-filling'.

The stopper consists of two parts the body 1 adapted to be driven intothe mouth of the bottle and a valve seating part 2, adapted to besecured and inclosed within the lower end of the stopper. The body ishollow and 4o closed at its upper end and is formed with a horizontalcircumferential channel 3,pre'lier ably below the middle of the lengthof the stopper and intersected by a plurality of vertical wall channels4, which open at the outer end of the stopper. In the horizontal channelare openings 5, not in line with the vertical channels so that thestopper Vfitting walls 6, are between the vertical channels and theupper edges oi the openings and below the 5o openings.

The valve seating partis tubular open at both ends and `formed with aeircum'lerential shoulder 7, at its lower end with its valve seatingpart extending up within the body and terminating at its upper inner endin a flaring valve-seat 8, while its shouldered end 'lits and closes theopen end ol the stopper. The valve seating part extends above the wallopenings and b v its form which is preferably'conical leaves an annularspace 9, be- 6o tween it and the inner walls ol" the stopper by whichcommunication is iliade with the external exit wall channels, theinterior of the stopper and the hollow valve seating part.

A valve I0, having a stem 11, is movable within the valve seating partthe end ol which lornis the valve seat, while the stem forms a guide forseating the valve.

The tubular valve-seating part is secured within the stopper preferablyb v suitable 7o cementing 12, at its end. shoulder and within the spacebetween the walls of the stopper and of' the valve seating part. Thestopper is sealed in the neck of the filled bottle prel'- erablv byeementing 13, applied in a eircumf'erential groove 14, at the inner orlower end of the stopper and the valve when seated seals the stopper.

Wvhile the valve freelyr opens when the bottle is tipped to allow thedischarge olt the 8o contents through the openings and the wallchannels, the valve cannot be opened and held open by external means toallow the re-filling of the bottle because'lhere is no means o'l' accessto the valve as it is impossi- 85 ble 'for an instrument to reach thevalve through the circumferential vertical wall channels and thedischarge openings because the openings are out ol' line with thevertical wall channels and the valve is above 9o the openings. Foraiding in closing the valve a ball is `provided in the hollow ol' thestopper so that it'rests and rolls on the head ol" the valve and servesto start it in closing' when lifting the bottle Vfrom a horizontal to avertical position.

I have illustrated in Fig. 6, the position of' the bottle in an attemptto refill it when laid on its side in the liquid. The inflow of theliquid through the stopper channels which opens at the outer end ol thestopper, will pass into the horizontal intersecting IOO channel and fromthence through the openings into the hollow of the stopper. In thisposition of the bottle it vwill be noted the valve is caused to open bysliding out of its conical seat with its stem resting on the inner wallof the valve forming part, and its head resting on the inner wall of thesection inclosing the valve, and if maintained in such position wouldallow the bottle to be re-lilled by the liquid running in under thevalve and through the valve-seating shell. This however, is prevented bythe inflow of the liquid into the hollow of the stopper causing thevalve thereby to be raised and is then forced to its seat and preventsany inflow into the bottle as shown in Fig. 7. In this way the valve iscaused to seat itself being controlled in such seating by the action ofits stem within the seating shell. If an attempt be made to re-ll thebottle by iiuid under pressure it will, on entering the hollow of thestopper, drive the valve to its seat and prevent the re-iilling of thebottle.

The several parts of the stopper may be molded of any suitable materialthat will allow the valve to have a close joint seating, such as glass,wood-pulp or porcelain; and it will be noted that the play of the ballis only sufficient to allow the valve to be opened for the freedischarge of the contents of the .bottle into the hollow of the stopper,out

through its openings into and out of the stopper passages formed by thecircumferential channels of the stopper. The ball serves as a stop tolimit the outward movement of the valve the stem of vwhich it will benoted does not have a close fitting guide but is free to allow it tohave a lateral movement when the bottle is placed in horizontal positionand thereby cause the valve to automatically assume a position that willcause it to be raised and seated by the infiow of the liquid to preventit re-filling the bottle.

It is important to note that the two sections of the `stopper aresecured together by cement so that it will be complete as an article ofmanufacture with the valve seating section inclosed within the stoppersection with the valve and its controlling ball free to move to allowthe exit of the contents of the bottle when the ordinary cork stopper isremoved. ln cementing the two sections together the shoulder of thevalve seating shell serves to limit its insertion into the inclosingsection and to close its inner end with the valve seat extended abovethe openings in the inclosing section, so that the non-refillablestopper can be forced in the bottle the same as the ordinary corkstopper. Of course the valve and its controlling ball are properlyplaced in the main stopper section before the valve seating shell iscemented in place.

I claim:

l. A stopper for non re-fillable bottles comprising an interior tubularsection having a circumferential base rim, and terminating at its upperend in a valve-seat, an upper hollow section closed at its top,supported upon the circumferential base rim and having a plurality ofcircumferential openings, a circumferential recess intersecting saidopenings and channels leading from said recess to the closed end, acement filling between the inner Walls of the top section and the outerwalls of the valve section to close the lower end of the top section andunite them in fixed relation as a single stopper, and a iioat-valvewithin the chamber of the top section adapted to control the valve seat.

2. Astopper for non re-illable bottles comprising an interior tubularsection terminating at its upper end in a valve-seat, an upper hollowsection closed at its top and having a plurality of circumferentialopenings and recesses intersecting said openings and channels leadingfrom said recess to the closed end, and a cement hlling around the innerwalls of the valve section to close the lower end of the top section andunite them in flXed relation as a single stopper, and a float valvewithin the chamber of the top section adapt- ICO ings and channelsleading therefrom between said openings to the closed end, a iioat-valvewithin the chamber of the top section adapted to control saidvalve-seat, means for closing the lower end of the top section and foruniting the two sections in fixed relation as a single stopper, and afloat valve within the chamber of the top section adapted to control thevalve-seat, saidvalve-seat terminating above the circumferentialopenings in the top section whereby access to the valve through saidopenings is prevented.

4. A stopper for a non re-iillable bottle and in combination a basetubular section terminating at its upper end in a valve-seat, an upperhollow section closed at its upper end and having a plurality ofcircumferential openings, and channels leading therefrom between saidopenings to the closed end, a floatvalve within the chamber of the topsection adapted to control said valve-seat, means for closing the lowerend of the top section and for uniting the two sections in fixedrelation as a single stopper, a fioat-valve within the chamber of thetop section adapted to eonl ln testimony whereof I have signed my trolthe Valve-Seat, mul a spherical body l nztnie to this specification inthe 'presence ol freely movable upon the head of Said valve l twosubscribingl Witnesses. between it and the closed head of the top sec.-I GEORGE B. OKE Y. tion, Said Valve being above the cireuniferentialopenings and thereby rendered inzieeosi sible through said openings.

